The Blog

5 Ways to Work Out On a Budget

‘Tis the season for leftover Halloween candy, candy apples, huge Thanksgiving meals, endless Christmas cookies, and flutes of champagne to celebrate the New Year.

The end of the year always comes with too many delicious foods which are next to impossible to say no to. If you don’t want to gain weight over the holidays, you’re going to need to stay active as the holidays come and go.

You don’t have to have an expensive gym membership to stay healthy though. There are inexpensive ways to work out on a budget and combat the battle of the Christmas bulge. Use these 5 ways to work out, stay fit and healthy, and mind your wallet all at the same time.

Use Fitness Apps

Fitness apps are a great way to have access to the same kinds of statistics and calorie burner counters which come embedded in the expensive workout machines at the gym.

For example, MapMyFitness is a fantastic fitness app which is great all ages and activity levels. Another great app, Jefit is a great all-encompassing fitness app which gives a workout summary of every training session, statistics on times and progress, and a breakdown of your workout.

Remember, although you can download fitness apps for free, you get what you pay for. By paying the $5.00 per month or $30.00 per year for an upgrade of the app you choose, you will have more options, more tracking ability, and better functions. All of this will help you make the most of your workout. $30 for the whole year is still way better than $50.00 per month for a gym membership.

Hit the Streets

Lace up your running shoes and hit the pavement! It costs you nothing but time and energy to go for a jog or even just a quick power walk through the neighborhood. The variation in the run will give you a better work out than flat running on a treadmill anyway. As a bonus, you will get some fresh air and sunshine as too.

You Tube Work Out Videos

You don’t need a fancy gym membership to take a fitness class. Type “work out videos to do at home” in the search bar on YouTube, and you will see about 44,800,000 results. Many of those videos are full length work outs, and they’re all free to watch. You won’t have any trouble at all finding the perfect workout or routine to challenge yourself and stay in shape.

Calisthenics

Calisthenics are the perfect body strengthening and shaping exercises to do in the comfort of your own home. Pushups, sit ups, planks, crunches, and pull ups are just a few of the basics. As you get stronger and build your endurance, you can add more and more difficult exercises to your daily routine.

Run Stairs

Whether it your own stairs in your home, at a school field or stadium, or a those inside a parking garage, use stairs to your advantage. Running or even just walking stairs is a great way to get a good cardio workout in for free. You don’t need access to a fancy step machine to strengthen your calves, back, and core muscles. Stairs are the perfect workout to do on a budget while still really pushing yourself to get in shape or stay healthy.

Make the world your gym. Fitness is not a luxury of the elite. The world is the gym of anyone who chooses to use it as such. Run, jump, climb, and play like you did as a kid and you will be able to eat as many Christmas cookies as you can stomach. You can work out on a budget if you just take advantage of the free tools around you. Don’t let the high price of a gym membership keep you from staying fit and healthy, this year and into the New Year.